Straddle carrier with dumping device



Nov. 18, 1958 F. H. VAN HELLEN STRADDLE CARRIER WITH DUMPING DEVICE 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 26, 1954 INVENTOR. FRANZ H. VAN HELLEN v ATTY.

Nov. 18, 1958 F. H. VAN HELLEN STRADDLE CARRIER WITH DUMPING DEVICEFiled NOV. 26, 1954 FIG. 2

5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTY.

Nov. 18, 1958 r F. H. VAN HELLEN 2,850,793

STRADDLE CARRIER WITH DUMPING DEVICE Filed Nov. 26, 1954 s Sheets-Sheets INVENTOR.

FRANZ H. VAN HELLEN ATTY.

STRA'DDLE CARRIER WITH DUB [PING DE-V ICE Franz 'H.'VanHellen,"St.Joseph; Mich assignofto Clark- Equipment' Company,a'corporation of Michigan Application November 26,1954, Serial No.471,188

3 ClaimS. (Cl; 214-318) My present 'inventionisdirected to amethod of,and

means for, handling a load; particularly in connection with a loadhandling vehicle, such as" a straddle carrier.

It is an object of my-p'resent invention to provide a novel method ofhandling a load, such as a box of material, which includes, upending'theboxof mat'erial, after 7 ithas been dep'osited onthe ground, for dumpingthe material from the box.

It is another object of my present invention to provide mechanism for aload handling vehicle; which is capable of upending a load lying on theground forwardly of the vehicle.

It is still another object of my present invention to'providemechanism-which'ma'y be incorporated'with a load 3 handling vehicle,such as a st'raddle carrier," for selectively upendinga load after ithas been transported to an unloading station and'deposited on thegr'ound'by the straddle carrier. I I

To accomplish the above objects, I incorporate novel upending-mechanismwith a-straddle carrier, which mechanism includes power operated armmeans pivotally'connected at one end to the straddle carrier andcarrying'at the other end load upending means. Considering specifically,a load such as a'boxof material, thestraddle'carri'er is employed forengaging the box of material on the ground, transporting the box" fromone location to another, and' depositing the boxon the ground. After theboX' of material has been deposited on the ground, the straddle carrieris backed from over the box and the upen'ding mechanism is employed forraising one end of the box so as to upend the latter for dumping thematerial from the box. Accordingly, it willbe seen that the straddlecarrier, and the upending mechanism of my'present invention, maybeemployed cooperativelyto carry out the method-"steps of myinventionforhandling a load, such as a box of material.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the method andmeans for practicing-the principles of my present invention, I shalldescribe in connection with the accompanying drawings, a preferredembodiment of my invention.

In the drawings:

Figure I is a perspective view of a straddle carrier with whichthe-dumping device of my present invention has been embodied forcarrying out the method of my present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational 'view of the straddle carn'er'of Figure1; and

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the straddle carrier of Figure lwith the dumping device being shown in several different operatingpositions.

My present invention is-concerned with a new and novel method ofhandling aload, such as the open-topped tot'e' boxshow'n at- 8inFigure 1. After thebox-8 has ice been filled with material,.thefollowingmethod steps of my invention'may be employed forelfectingdumping of the material at a distantunloadingfistation. Inaccordance with my invention, the'box of material-is first engaged andraised from the ground. This may be accomplished with a load handlingvehicle of the character to be described hereinafter. Then the elevatedbox of materialis transported by the load handling vehicle to theunloading station and deposited on the ground. Finally, the

box of material is upended from the position shown in solid lines inFigure 1 to the position shown in dot-dash lines in Figure 3 for dumpingthe materialfrom the-box.

To specifically perform upending of the box 8, I have invented mechanismwhich may be embodied with a load' handling .vehicle' in a manner that Ishalldescribe hereinafter.

One type of load handling. vehicle which is adapted for usein'practicingthe method of my present invention is shown in the drawingsat 10'; This vehicle is commonly termed a straddle carrier, since itcarries a load at its underside and thus straddles the load beingcarried. The' straddle carrier ltl'comprises a horizontal, generallyrectangular, main frame 12 havingvertical fork tube housf ings 14 ateach corner. Fork tubes 16 'are-journaledin the housings 14 and at'theirlower ends are secured to. forks 18 which support'horizontal stub shafts20 upon which the'wheel and tire assemblies 22 are mounted. The foursets of fork tubes 16, forks 18, stub shafts 20, and

tire and wheel assemb1iesfl2 2are rotatable aboutthe vertical axesof thehousings 14 for steering thestraddle' carrier. The main frame 12supports an operators cab 24 and a primernover (enclosed by the hood 26)that is adapted to drive the rear pair of wheel assemblies 22" throughpower transmission means including a differential unit28 and a pair ofdrive shafts, one of which is indicated at 30 in Figure 1. The driveshafts 30are connected with the wheel assemblies 22 by means ofsprockets wise of the vehicle by means of diagonal braces 36. Each post34 carries a load hook or engaging plate 38, formed with a laterallyinwardly directed foot or ledge 39, which is movable upwardly anddownwardly on the post 34 by hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblymeans (not shown) acting through links 40. The selective movement of theplates 38 toward and away from each other, and

up and down, permits loads to be engaged and discharged conveniently, atthe will of the operator of the vehicle.

I shall now describe the upending .mechanism of my" present inventionwhich, when incorporated with a load handling vehicle, is operable totilt a dump or tote box, such as is shown at 8 in Figure l, to empty thecontents thereof. The upending mechanism is particular adapted forembodiment with the above described straddle carrier and comprisesforwardly extending arm means including a pair of lengthwise extendingarm members 44 which" are disposed at the sides of the vehicle 10. Therear ends of the arm members 44 are pivotally mounted at 46 about atransverse axis to the main frame 12 of theveh-icle adjacent the rearend thereof. The forward ends of the arm members 44 are curveddownwardly and at their forwa'rd' termini support load upending means inthe form of a horizontal, transversely extending, load upending bar orrod 48. Additional rigidity of the arm members 44 is obtained by meansof a transverse brace member 49.

To perform its upending functions, the load upending bar 48 is movedupwardly and downwardly at the forward end of the vehicle. Such movementis effected by pivoting the arms 44 about the mountings 46 with poweractu-' ated means including a pair of chain assemblies 50. Each chainassembly 50 is secured at its one end to the adjacent arm 44 and at itsother end to the main frame 12 of the vehicle. In addition, each chain50 is trained over a sprocket 52 that is pivotally mounted on theadjacent end of a transversely extending shaft 54. The shaft 54 iscarried at the outer ends of the piston rods 56 of a pair of hydraulicpiston and cylinder assemblies 58 having cylinders 60 secured to themain vehicle frame 12 inwardly of the sides thereof. The chains 50 andsprockets 52 serve as motion transmitting means between the hydraulicassemblies 58 and the arm members 44. The hydraulic assemblies 58 areoperated by a conventional fluid pressure control system for eflectingupending of a load.

Upon the admission of fluid under pressure to the lower ends of thehydraulic cylinders 60, the piston rods 56 are distended upwardly, andthe chains 50 are caused to travel in a counterclockwise direction overthe sprockets 52. This action causes the ends of the chains 50, whichare secured to the arms 44, to be drawn upwardly and eflects clockwisepivotal movement of the arms 44 about the mountings 46. The loadupending bar 48 is elevated as the arms 44 are pivoted clockwise.

To lower the load upending bar 48, fluid is bled from the lower ends ofthe cylinders 60 while fluid under pressure is simultaneously directedto the upper ends of the cylinders 60. This causes the piston rods 56 tobe retracted and the chains 50 to travel in a clockwise direction overthe sprockets 52 Thus, the ends of the chains 50 which are secured tothe arms 44 are played out and the arms 44 are permitted to pivotcounterclockwise about the mountings 46.

One form of dump or tote box 8 which is particularly adapted for use inpracticing my present invention comprises, as shown in Figure 1,vertical sides 62 spaced apart by a rear wall 63, and a bottom 64 havingstraight and inclined portions. Spaced runners 66 are employed toreinforce both the straight and inclined bottom portions 64. Suitablysecured to the rear box wall 63 are a pair of rearwardly extending armmembers 68 having cut-out portions 70 which serve to receive the loadupending bar 48 whereby the tote box 8 may be upended upon suitableactuation of the upending mechanism.

The following is a description of my novel method of handling the box 8with the above-described straddle carrier and upending mechanism of mypresent invention. After the box 8 has been filled with material, thestraddle carrier 10 is driven over the box 8 so as to dispose the boxunder the main frame 12 as shown in solid lines in Figure 3. The loadengaging plates 38 are then lowered on the posts 34 and the latter areswung laterally inwardly toward each other for disposing the plate feet39 beneath the box 8. Finally, the load engaging plates 38 are elevatedon the posts 34 for raising the box 8 from the ground to the positionshown, for example, in dot-dash lines in Figure 2. The box 8 is now inposition to be transported by the straddle carrier 10 to an unloadingstation.

After being transported to the unloading station, the box 8 is depositedby lowering the load engaging plates 38 until the box contacts theground and by swinging the posts 34 laterally outwardly so as towithdraw the plate feet 39 from beneath the box. Then, to permitupending of the box 8, the straddle carrier 10 is backed away from thebox to approximately the position shown in Figure l.

Upending of the box is carried out by lowering the load upending bar 48to the position shown in solid lines in Figure 3 below the cut-outportions 70 of the box. The hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 58are suitably actuated by the operator of the vehicle so as to move theload upending bar 48 progressively upwardly into the cut-out portions 70shown in dash lines in Figure 3, through the position shown indash-double-dot lines in Figure 3 and hence to the position shown indot-dash lines. During this movement of the load upending bar 48, thebox 8 is raised at its one end, rocked about the runners 66 from thestraight to the inclined portions, and finally is tilted to the verticalposition shown in dot-dash lines in Figure 3.

At this point, the material, which has been loaded in the box, will fallfrom the box under the force of gravity. If the material tends to adhereto the inside of the box, the latter may be jogged or jostled, bysuitable actuation of the hydraulic piston and cylinder assemblies 58,while the straddle carrier is slowly backed away from the material beingdumped. After the box 8 has been emptied, it is returned to its normalhorizontal position shown in Figure 1 by lowering the load upending bar48 while slowly moving the straddle carrier backwardly. The box 8 isthen returned by the straddle carrier to a storage point, or a loadingzone where it may again be filled with material that must be transportedfrom one position to another.

From the foregoing description, it will be realized that the straddlecarrier, and the upending mechanism of my present invention, may becooperatively employed to carry out the method steps of my presentinvention which include upending the box of material, after it has beendeposited on the ground, for dumping the material from the box.

Now while I have shown and described what I believe to be preferredmethod and means for carrying out the principles of my presentinvention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious rearrangements and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. In an industrial material handling vehicle of the type equipped tostraddle, elevate, transport, and deposit box-like containers, thecombination comprising, a hori zontal load upending bar disposed acrossthe forward end of the vehicle, parallel arm members supported on thevehicle and carrying said bar therebetween, selectively operable poweractuated means having connection with said arm members for raising andlowering said bar substantially vertically, and engagement means on thecontainer adapted to be coupled with said bar whereby the container maybe upended and its contents discharged by upward vertical movement ofsaid bar.

2. In an industrial material handling vehicle of the type having a mainframe and equipped to straddle, elevate, transport, and deposit box-likecontainers which are fitted with engagement means at one end thereof,the combination comprising, a horizontal load upending bar disposedacross the front end of the vehicle, parallel arm means connected at oneend to said load upending bar and pivoted at their opposite ends to themain frame of the vehicle, and power actuated means carried by thevehicle and having connection with said arm means for effecting pivotalmovement of the latter thereby to raise and lower said upending bar asselected, the raising of said bar when the same is connected with theengagement means on the container causing the latter to be upended todischarge its contents.

3. In an industrial material handling vehicle of the class adapted tostraddle, elevate, transport, and deposit box-like containers, thecombination comprising, a horizontal upending bar disposed across theforward end of the vehicle, parallel arm means supporting said bar atits ends, means pivotally connecting said arm means to the vehicle,hydraulic piston and cylinder means carried by the vehicle, motiontransmitting means including sprocket }and chain means interconnectingsaid arm means and said References Cited in the file of this patentydraulic piston and cylinder means, means for selectively operating saidhydraulic piston and cylinder means UNITED STATES PATENTS to elevate anddepress said bar in response to pivotal 441,264 Van Wagenen Nov. 25,1890 movement of said arm means, and load engagement 5 2,235,913 BeaneMar. 25, 1941 means provided on one end of the container for selective2,415,014 Luebbers J an. 28, 1947 engagement by said bar, the elevationof said bar when 2,443,883 Arps June 22, 1948 engaged with the said loadengagement means serving to 2,462,907 Savage Mar. 1, 1949 upend thecontainer and unload the same. 2,463,802 Pilch Mar. 8, 1949

